Royals shouldn't match Twins' interest in released closer to bolster middling bullpen

While the trade deadline may be in the past now, there's still certainly ways for teams to find external ways to bolster their major league roster.

One of the easiest ways is to scour the release market. And the Chicago Cubs added an intriguing name to that market after cutting former a former All-Star and World Series winning closer in Ryan Pressly over the weekend.

A veteran arm with a track record like this will always garner interest on the open market. And after the wild trade deadline sell off they just had, the Minnesota Twins have reportedly expressed interest in a reunion with him, as per Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

While a veteran reliever like Pressly would traditionally be appealing to many squads - Kansas City included - and having him sign with a division rival should normally be concerning, there's plenty of reason why the Royals should steer clear of Pressly.

Royals shouldn't pursue Ryan Pressly, even if Twins are interested

First things first, despite the 36-year-old right-hander's strong prior track record, Pressly is not the pitcher he once was, hence why the Cubs cut him loose.

While his numerous sub-3.00 ERA seasons in Houston may be the pinnacle of his career when it comes to individual performance, even in his final season with the Astros in 2024 was certainly night and day to his 2025 output. In 56.2 innings across 59 outings last season, Pressly threw to a 3.49 ERA, 3.10 FIP and 1.34 WHIP. Not great, but somewhat serviceable.

This season in Chicago though, his ERA has risen to 4.35, his FIP to 5.02, his WHIP to 1.52 and he's also sporting a .282 BAA.

And from an underlying metrics perspective, these numbers aren't a fluke. Looking at his strikeout numbers, he ranks below the 10th percentile in K-rate (5th percentile), whiff rate (4th percentile), chase rate (6th percentile). From a quality of contact point of view, he sits all the way down in 2nd percentile in hard-hit rate and 8th percentile in AVG exit velocity. He also ranks in the 32nd percentile in walk rate. Lastly, his expected metrics rank in the 15th percentile or lower - 15th percentile xERA and 8th percentile xBA.

As mentioned earlier, this is not the same arm that helped anchor the dynasty Astros bullpen.

Now, some of you may be asking, why would the Royals need any bullpen help right now? After all, they're 'pen still ranks 9th in basebal in ERA for the season at 3.71.

Well, from a FIP, WHIP and BAA perspective, they are more of middling entity - sitting tied for 17th in FIP at 4.06, tied for 13th in WHIP at 1.29 and tied for 18th in BAA at .238. And even more recently, since the All-Star break, the Royals are down across the board - ranking 13th in ERA at 3.88, 19th in FIP at 4.32, 25th in WHIP at 1.47 and 22nd in BAA at .251.

Injuries to their pitching staff, including the likes of Steven Cruz who just landed on the 15-day IL - have seen them pursue plenty of pitching depth over the last several weeks.

While their bullpen could stand to gain from finding a way to acquire a proven veteran talent, Pressly is simply not that arm anymore that can aid in a postseason push.

It's best to leave him to the Twins and see if they're willing to let him occupy one of their bullpen spots after their recent deadline day fire sale.